Not knowing all the correct terms i will ask probably a very basic question. What is a browser?
I ISP is AOL. I usually “surf” using the AOL home page. Is AOL my browser. Sometimes i click on the blue “e” (internet explorer i guess) and use that. I have iwon.com as my homepage for that. Is that my browser too? Now i see people suggesting to use mozilla.org. If i down load that will it put some other symbol thing next to the “e”?
MAKE ME UNDERSTAND SO I CAN STEP INTO THE MODERN WORLD!
A web browser is a program that interprets and displays web pages. Examples are the integrated AOL browser, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE), Netscape, and Opera. If you’re looking at a web page, you’re doing it through a web browser. Most browsers can also run programs in a language like Java using an add-in accessory program called a plugin.
Other than visually wouldn’t all browsers be pretty much the same? I mean arn’t they all accessing the same internet sites?
Pretty much. There are some slight differences in how some of the more advanced portions work (like Dynamic HTML), but that’s for the website designers to worry about, not you.
Yep.
Think of a web browser as being like a TV. They all have pretty much the same features, and they all pick up and render the same signals. It’s mostly the minor cosmetic differences, or the variations in “extra” features that help you decide which TV to buy.
This is tricky to explain, and I didn’t do that great a job. I won’t take for granted the next time someone manages to explain ‘hemi’ engines to me. :dubious:
The average person probably wouldn’t notice a difference with any current graphical browser (IE, Mozilla, NS, Opera, etc). You can see some screen shots of different browsers here or here.
There are standards on how web servers are supposed to act, on the syntax of the code making up web pages, on how certain errors are to be handled, etc. They’re followed enough that most of the web is pretty much the same for everyone.
Some differences you can see - how the bookmarks are managed, whether it uses tabbed browsing, includes pop-up filters, etc… others you might not. For example I prefer Mozilla due to it’s closer CSS compliance, cross-platform coding, open-sourceness, and the fact that they’re not trying to break html coding so only their stuff works.
I suppose you could think of loading an image file. (though on preview I like the TV analogy better) You could use Adobe, Photoshop, or Microsoft Paint. You’ll get the same file either way, and if that’s all you’re after they’ll be the same. But the abilities of the programs are different.
For your purpose, a browser takes a description of a page to be viewed and displays it for you.
When you go to these message boards, you are presented with a page that has a big Straight Dope logo, a handful of buttons and the table with the different forums. All very visual.
This page is actually a whole bunch of ugly text that describes what you, the user, should see and what the browser should display. For example, what follows is a snippet of the html code that makes up the front page for SDMB. A browser takes these instructions and displays them. Some browsers do it better than others, but most people don’t notice.
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" id=“all” leftmargin=“10” topmargin=“10” marginwidth=“10” marginheight=“10” link="#000020" vlink="#000020" alink="#000020">
<!-- logo and buttons →
<table border=“0” width=“100%” cellpadding=“0” cellspacing=“0”>
<tr>
<td valign=“top” align=“left”><a href=“index.php?”><img src="…/pics/tsdbanner.gif" border=“0” alt=“Straight Dope Message Board”></a></td>
<td valign=“bottom” align=“right” background=“images/menu_background.gif”>
<!-- toplinks →
<a href=“usercp.php?”><img src=“images/top_profile.gif” alt=“Here you can view your subscribed threads, work with private messages and edit your profile and preferences” border=“0”></a>
<a href=“register.php?action=signup”><img src=“images/top_register.gif” alt=“Registration is free!” border=“0”></a>
<a href=“calendar.php?”><img src=“images/top_calendar.gif” alt=“Calendar” border=“0”></a>
<a href=“memberlist.php?”><img src=“images/top_members.gif” alt=“Find other members” border=“0”></a>
<a href=“misc.php?action=faq”><img src=“images/top_faq.gif” alt=“Frequently Asked Questions” border=“0”></a>
<a href=“search.php?”><img src=“images/top_search.gif” alt=“Search” border=“0”></a>
<a href=“index.php?”><img src=“images/top_home.gif” alt=“Home” border=“0”></a>
<!-- <a href=“member.php?action=logout”><img src=“images/top_logout.gif” alt=“Logout” border=“0”></a> →
<!-- /toplinks →
</td>
</tr>